Ural Airlines

The Sverdlovsk Joint Aviation Squad, which included the Sverdlovsk Koltsovo Airport and the squad of Aeroflot airplanes based there, was formed in 1943 . The activities of Ural Airlines on the Russian transport market began in December 1993 after the official separation of the Sverdlovsk airline into an airline and an airport. The permanent leader of the company was Sergey Skuratov , who owns an 80.22% stake in the company ^[4] .

The first millionth passenger was transported by the airline in 2006 . At the end of 2016, 6.4 million passengers used the airline's services.

Initially, the airline operated Soviet-made aircraft. Since 2006, the fleet renewal program has been running, within the framework of which Soviet aircraft were gradually decommissioned. In 2017, the airline operated the same-type narrow-body aircraft of the A320 family of the Airbus concern. Along with changing the aircraft fleet, the airline began the rebranding process, during which a new company logo and livery design were created ^[5] .

In September 2015, the company was included in the sanctions list of Ukraine. The sanctions provide for the blocking of assets and the suspension of economic and financial obligations, as well as the “restriction, partial or complete cessation of the transit of resources, flights and traffic through the territory of Ukraine” ^{[6] [7]} .

In 2016, the airline became a leader among Russian air carriers in terms of the intensity of operation of narrow-body aircraft of the A320 family : on a day, the carrier’s cars spent in the air for an average of 11.49 hours. ^[8] According to the results of 2016, the airline’s net profit increased by 9.4 times compared to 2015 and amounted to 2.692 billion rubles. The company's revenue net of value added tax and excise taxes in 2016 amounted to 57.321 billion rubles, an increase of 30.7% ^[9] .

On June 26, 2012, Ural Airlines opened its own training center for training pilots of aircraft of the Airbus 320 family. The simulator was specially made for Ural Airlines by the Dutch company Sim Industries ( Lockheed Martin division). The cost of the equipment amounted to 7.5 million euros. Ural Airlines Training Center received a certificate of the Level-D category (it allows training pilots without using real aircraft). The simulator package corresponds to the Airbus A320 series of aircraft, 30 airports are available for simulation ^[10] .

In May 2014, the airline completed the construction of a hangar complex for servicing wide-body airliners (Airbus A330, Boeing 767, etc.) at Koltsovo Airport . The indoor hangar can accommodate either 4 A320 aircraft, or two A321 aircraft and one wide-body A330. The technical base of the airline made it possible to perform complex types of maintenance, for example, replacing engines ^[10] .

08/08/2019, the Ural Airlines fleet replenished the first Airbus A320neo with tail number VP-BRX. The liner was obtained directly from the Airbus conveyor in Toulouse and will be operated under an operating lease agreement with CDB Aviation.

Ural Airlines received the national wings award Wings of Russia in various categories. According to the results of 2016, the company was recognized as the winner in the nomination “Domestic air transportation in group 1” (the volume of air transportation over 3.0 million passengers), as well as in the special nomination “Business project of the 20th anniversary of the civil aviation of Russia” ^[11] .

• in 2018 - 9,000 million (+ 12.5%);
• in 2017 - 8,000 million ^[12] (+ 24%);
• in 2016 - 6.467 million ^[13] (+ 19%);
• in 2015 - 5.445 million ^[14] (+ 7%);
• in 2014 - 5.160 million ^[15] (+ 17%);
• in 2013 - 4.419 million ^[16] (+ 25%);
• in 2012 - 3.525 million ^[17] (+ 40%);
• in 2011 - 2.513 million ^[18] (+ 40%);
• in 2010 - 1.792 million ^[18] (+ 12%);
• in 2009 - 1.497 million (+ 3%);
• in 2008 - 1.450 million (+ 19%);
• in 2007 - 1.217 million

The airline operates regular and charter flights from more than 25 airports in Russia, as well as several dozen airports near and far abroad. The largest number of flights is operated from Domodedovo (50 destinations), Koltsovo (over 45 destinations), Pulkovo (over 30 destinations), and Sheremetyevo (3 destinations) airports ^{[19] [20]} . Ural Airlines operates flights on the basis of the fifth freedom of airspace (in particular, from Russia to Bangkok via China airports).

Starting March 25, 2018, Ural Airlines began to carry out new regional flights from Sheremetyevo International Airport to Yekaterinburg, Simferopol and Sochi . Flights are operated on Airbus A320 airliners . Sheremetyevo flights will complement existing flights from Yekaterinburg to Domodedovo Airport. Currently, Ural Airlines is the only airline in the Ural region that can offer passengers the choice of departure to two airports of the capital at once. In addition, passengers can take advantage of the “Moscow Pass”, which allows you to choose the required number of trips, use open flight dates and purchase tickets with a discount of up to 50%. At the same time, you can combine arrival airports in one subscription and choose Domodedovo Airport or Sheremetyevo Airport. ^[nineteen]

The launch of a new route from Moscow to Paris was fraught with scandal. The first flight from the Zhukovsky airport on April 28, 2019 was carried out with an intermediate landing in Kaluga , which extended the flight by several hours, some passengers were late for connecting flights and promised to sue the company, accusing it of fraud . A representative of the airline said that permission from the Federal Air Transport Agency for flights in this direction was received in November 2018, however, the French aviation authorities attributed Zhukovsky to Moscow airports, and therefore refused to issue permission for such flights. Russia classifies Zhukovsky as a regional airport, which gives the right not to limit the number of carriers on international flights. This restriction is valid at all other Moscow airports - in the form of a requirement for the same number of flights for Russian and foreign airlines ^{[21] [22]}

Current fleet

The air fleet of the company as of April 2019 consists of 45 ^[23] aircraft:

All aircraft are operated on leasing terms. By 2020, the airline’s total fleet is planned to be increased to 50 aircraft ^[34] . The airline management announced plans to lease wide-body aircraft of the A330 type, however, a final decision on the delivery time was not made ^[35] .

Previously Operated Aircraft

Previously, the fleet of Ural Airlines was composed mainly of Soviet-made vessels ^[36] :

• An-12
• An-24
• Tu-134
• Tu-154
• IL-86

On August 15, 2019, the Airbus A321 aircraft (registration number VQ-BOZ), following flight U6 178 from Moscow to Simferopol , made an emergency landing in a corn field after an alleged collision with birds and the failure of both engines. None of the passengers and crew were seriously injured ^[37]

• Airline List
• UAM logbook